


Crazy In Like

by yeska_noka



Series: Roller Derby Verse [12]
Category: BUTOUKAN, Snow Man (Japanese Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, F/M, Genderswap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-06
Updated: 2011-04-06
Packaged: 2019-03-29 11:06:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13925850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeska_noka/pseuds/yeska_noka
Summary: Sakuma takes Yamamoto roller skating.





	Crazy In Like

**Author's Note:**

  * For [talisa_ahn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/talisa_ahn/gifts).



> For talisa_ahn, because we made a deal that I'd write fic if she donated to earthquake relief funds. Not that there was much point to the deal because I'd already agreed to write this and she was planning to donate anyway, but. A formality, if you will. She gets a little bonus on the agreed-upon amount. ;) For the record, this fic is 2,148 words.

Yamamoto ties his laces as slowly as possible.

“Are you ready yet?” Sakuma is bouncing a bit on her skate stoppers, looming (as much as one can loom at her height) over him.

Really, Yamamoto thinks, he’ll never be ready. Humans weren’t meant to have _wheels_ beneath their feet. He glances out over the rink where children are chasing each other and playing tag. Couples are making lazy rounds holding hands, while a few people cling to the wall for dear life. Yamamoto would like to be one of the former, but he has a feeling he’s more likely to be the latter and doesn’t think falling on his face will impress his date.

“Uh...”

Sakuma grins. “Well?”

“The skates fit, at least,” Yamamoto says, stalling. He rolls his feet back and forth in front of himself.

“Well, let’s go then!” Sakuma turns to skate away and he reaches out to grab her wrist.

“Hold on. Can we just... go really slow?” He wills himself not to blush.

Sakuma’s laughter isn’t unkind and he feels a little better when she grabs his wrist in turn. “That’s fine. I’ll help you.”

She’s got a surprisingly strong grip for someone of her stature (not that Yamamoto is all that much taller). She grabs him by his forearms and he does the same, and he braces himself against her as she pulls him up.

“Whoaaa!”

Sakuma laughs again. “I can’t believe you’ve _never_ been on skates before. Seriously?”

“I wasn’t lying,” he protests, and it’s a strange feeling to be so unsteady - he’s usually got great balance.

“Try taking a step forward,” Sakuma tells him, and moves back slightly to make space.

Yamamoto gets as far as shifting his weight before he feels like he’s going to fall and stops, clinging tightly to her arms. He’s going to feel guilty if she has bruises later, but she doesn’t seem to notice.

“I’ll fall if I pick up a foot,” he says.

“You don’t have to pick up a foot to move,” she points out. “You’ve got wheels, so you can just slide one foot forward a bit.”

Not that you even need wheels to do that, either, but Yamamoto gets what she means.

“Okay.”

That’s a little easier, and moving slowly, they manage to make it from the bench to the edge of the rink without incident (and only minimal flailing). Sakuma looks delighted.

Yamamoto feels less than thrilled when the attempt to get down the one step onto the rink surface ends with him on his ass.

“Ow?” He wonders if she’ll let him out of this if he looks pathetic enough, but she crushes his hopes soon enough.

“Won’t be the last,” she says, a knowing grin.

“Why do you do this to yourself?” he whines as she hauls him back to his feet.

“Why do you try new dance moves that result in you falling on your head repeatedly?” she counters.

“...oh.” He can’t really argue with that.

They start off with Sakuma skating backwards still, pulling Yamamoto slowly along so that he can get a feel for balancing on the skates without having to focus on propelling himself. It’s easier said than done, though; he gets distracted by her hands, looks up from his feet and right into her eyes, and then he’s on the floor again.

 

_When Sakuma shows up to watch Butoukan’s practice sporting a new haircut, Yamamoto nearly trips over himself. Her hair is short and permed, curling prettily around her face, and Yamamoto can’t stop staring._

_“Ooh, I love your hair!” Senga says, reaching out to tug one of Sakuma’s curls. Yamamoto’s fingers itch to do the same and he squeezes his hands into fists. He definitely can’t._

_“Thank you!” Sakuma says, clearly pleased._

_“When did you do this?”_

_“Only yesterday. Hikaru really wanted to get the asymmetrical bob thingy, you know, so I got dragged to the salon. Figured I might as well try something new, too.”_

_“It suits you,” Senga says._

_“You look really nice,” Yamamoto blurts out, and then promptly feels himself blushing when Senga snickers._

_“Oh. Thank you,” Sakuma says quietly, eyes wide like he’s startled her. They stare at each other for a few moments, but then Tsukada arrives and Sakuma immediately turns to say hello._

_Yamamoto sighs._

 

“That’s it,” Sakuma encourages. “Good.”

They’ve made three laps around the rink, and while Yamamoto feels more like it’s been thirty, he manages to get around the curve without falling and it feels like an accomplishment. Sakuma’s smile is a welcome reward.

 

_“Can I get you something to drink?” Yamamoto asks. Sakuma looks around as if she’s not sure who he’s talking to._

_“Oh, um, no, that’s okay. I’m fine,” she says when it’s clear that he’s addressing her._

_“Are you sure? I don’t mind,” he adds._

_“You don’t have to.” She stares at her knees._

_Yamamoto keeps trying. “I want to.”_

_“Oh! Oh... well.”_

_Yamamoto wishes the park lights were brighter. He thinks Sakuma might be biting her lip and it might be cute as hell, but she’s got her head tilted down and he can’t quite see._

_“I’m getting you something,” he insists. “So tell me what you like or it’ll just be something random.”_

_The machine doesn’t have what Sakuma requests, but Yamamoto picks the closest thing he can and prays that she doesn’t hate it._

_She bows her head slightly in thanks when he hands it over with an apology, but doesn’t say much else. He stares at the way her fingers curl around the small bottle, the blue of her nails brightly-colored spots of contrast against the label._

_Sakuma can’t stay the whole time, but when practice is over, Yamamoto notices the empty bottle left next to his water. He smiles._

 

“See? I told you you could do it,” Sakuma says, grinning. She’s skating next to him now, giving him little pointers as he makes his way unsteadily around the rink under his own power.

“You always make it look so easy,” he grumbles, but he feels kind of accomplished, anyway. A full lap with no falls.

He may not need to hold onto her hands for balance anymore, but he still wants to hold on to her just because. He makes it one more lap before he asks.

 

_“Why did you volunteer me?!” Yamamoto asks Senga before they go home. “Sakuma-san doesn’t like me!”_

_Senga just laughs. “Oh, Ryo-chan, you are so dense. Of course she does!”_

_“But she never talks to me,” he argues. “She hardly even looks at me!”_

_“Because she_ likes _you.”_

_“That makes no sense.”_

_Senga pats his arm. “Trust me. She can’t take her eyes off you when you’re dancing. She’s just shy.”_

_Yamamoto frowns. “She’s not shy. I watch her all the time and she talks to everyone, no problem. I’m the only one she won’t talk to. She totally hates me.”_

_“Men,” Senga sighs. “This is why I don’t bother with you. She’s just shy with you because she likes you. She doesn’t know what to say to you.”_

_“So how is this karaoke thing going to work, then? If she won’t even talk to me.”_

_“She will now,” Senga explains._

_“What?”_

_“Have fun!” Senga flashes him a grin and hoists her bag onto her shoulder. “See you later!”_

_“What? Wait, Senga, wait!”_

_Yamamoto doesn’t understand at all._

 

“Do you ever fall?” Yamamoto asks her, curious.

Sakuma stares at him like he’s crazy. “Yeah? You’ve seen me fall dozens of times.”

“Well, no,” he explains. “I mean, do you ever fall without being knocked over? Do you ever fall just on your own?”

“Sort of,” Sakuma says. “Sometimes. If I’m messing around or just not paying attention. Or just randomly. But not all that much, I guess.”

“Must be nice.”

“Well, yeah. But hey, you’re getting better,” Sakuma says, and then she leans into his shoulder a bit, just a friendly nudge, and he nearly takes them both down before she catches him, laughing. “Sorry.”

Yamamoto shakes his head, holding on tightly to her hand. “You can knock me down anytime. I don’t mind if it’s you.”

“Yamamoto-kun...” Sakuma looks away, but unlike the nighttime park where Butoukan practices, the skate rink is well-lit, and Yamamoto can see now how she’s just trying to hide a happy little smile.

“Don’t do that.” He can’t reach out to turn her chin or he’ll definitely fall.

“Don’t do what?”

“Don’t turn away,” he tells her. “Let me see your smile.”

Sakuma blinks, and she does turn her head away for a second, maybe out of habit, before looking back at him, a light blush spreading across her cheeks. “Okay,” she says, and her smile is just for him.

 

_Sakuma does talk to him, but Yamamoto has a hard time following what she says; he’s too busy staring. She looks gorgeous, not at all like she’s just finished what basically amounts to a brawl on wheels. But even if she’d come looking just as she had when Watanabe chased her into him earlier, Yamamoto would have been enamoured. He silently counts the freckles just under one eye, but then he loses track when she suddenly waves her hand in front of his face._

_“Are you even listening to me?”_

_He starts to make some excuse, but then it dawns on him that she looks more amused than annoyed, and he figures maybe going with the truth might work out the best._

_“I wasn’t, sorry. I got distracted by your beauty.”_

_Sakuma stares at him for a moment, then cracks up laughing. Not quite the reaction he’d been looking for, but as long as she’s happy..._

_“Do people really say stuff like that?” she asks, gasping for air._

_“I do,” he answers. “When I mean it, anyway.”_

_Sakuma laughs again, just a little. “You really...”_

_“I really what?”_

_“Chiho! It’s your song!” One of the other girls shoves a microphone in front of her face and Sakuma jumps._

_“Oh! Right!”_

_She’s even got a beautiful voice._

 

It’s a perfect date, Yamamoto thinks over dinner, even with the bruises. He can just look at them later and remember the whole day. But there’s something he wants to know.

“So why wouldn’t you talk to me?” he asks Sakuma. “You know. Before.”

“Oh,” Sakuma says, and glances down at her plate before pulling her eyes up again. Yamamoto is starting to see what Senga meant about the shyness, but Sakuma is clearly trying.

“I just... you’re... you know.”

“I’m what?” he asks. “You said something like that at karaoke, too, and wouldn’t tell me what.”

“Just...” Sakuma turns a bit pink, but doesn’t look away. “I really like your dancing.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it?!” She looks indignant. “That’s a lot! I mean.” She bites her lip before continuing. “I kept watching you, you know? And you just looked really cool, and you- you’re really attractive and all...” Yamamoto hides a smile. “And then on top of that you were so kind, too, and I just thought... well, I don’t know.” Now she does look down at the table. “Why would someone so great want someone like me?”

Yamamoto can’t believe it at all. He reaches out to take her hand in his and waits until she meets his eye. “Sakuma-chan. You definitely underestimate yourself. You didn’t think that maybe I was being so nice because I _like_ you? I mean really. This gorgeous, funny girl starts showing up at my practices... how could I not notice? You’re always smiling and laughing with Senga and having fun, and I just wanted you to smile at me, too.”

Sakuma does smile at him then, and looks a bit embarrassed. “We’re both idiots, aren’t we?”

“We are,” Yamamoto agrees, and reaches out to take her other hand, trying to swallow the butterflies that take wing in his stomach at the mere thought of what he wants to ask. “We’d make a good couple, huh?”

“Are... are you asking me to be your girlfriend?”

“Yeah.” It’s only their second date, or maybe the first, if you don’t count the group party, and he knows it’s a bit early, but he doesn’t want to chance letting her go. His heart thuds as she looks at him with rich, brown eyes that he could lose himself in forever, and he prays that she’ll give him even a fraction of that time.

“Okay,” she breathes, and it’s only then that he notices her hands are shaking. Yamamoto laughs in relief, and in happiness.

“I really like you a lot, Sakuma-chan,” he tells her, and squeezes her fingers. “So please like me a lot, too?”

Sakuma nods, a small duck of her head that does nothing to hide her growing smile. “I already do.”


End file.
